The data plans that have been in the cooker since January are finally seeing the light of day for BlackBerry. $30 for 300 MB and $50 for 500 MB are the main flavours, but differ a little bit. The $50 plan is Flex, meaning if you go over your allotment, Rogers will bump you up to the next tier. Not bad, but still not unlimited. We got a look at some of the internal marketing docs, and they had some pretty interesting demographical info, claiming less than 1% of users go over 100 MB monthly, meaning their $30 plan is more than enough for regular users. To be fair, that’s because it’s been stupidly expensive to get a 100 MB plan – now that you’re offering it for way cheaper, data services are much more accessible, so capping 300 MB is entirely possible. Oh, another lil caveat – these plans aren’t available for BES users, BIS only. How do you guys do on your monthly data usage?
PhoneScoop posted about some new data-only plans from Verizon. The BlackBerry and PDA plans are $54.99/month and offer unlimited text, IM, picture and video messaging, email, web browsing, and data usage, with a $0.25/minute charge for calls. The “Consumer Devices” plan is exactly the same, except it doesn’t offer email and charges $0.40/minute for voice features. Of course, Version’s definition of “unlimited” is a little odd, so keep an eye on the fine print. That said, unlimited everything plans are starting to pop up elsewhere, so hopefully we’ll see this sort of thing with other big names.
So long as we’re seeing some new software in action, it’s high time we see something new from Unite!, the suite to keep small groups of BlackBerrys managed. The features include file and media access, security options such as device lockdown and usage monitoring, alongside calendar and contact sharing for up to five BlackBerrys. With the BlackBerry Professional Software having launched just recently, Unite! would be a great follow-up. One handy tidbit gleaned from the screenshots is that wireless file transfer is limited to 1 MB unless you’re packing Wi-Fi. Aside from that, the handheld software looks like it gives you great navigation of your computer’s hard drive. For more info, check out RIM’s site. Thanks Josep!
Rove busted out PCMobilizr this week, and being locals to our neck of the woods, we felt just a little obliged to give the trial a run. PCMobilizr is an app that’s installed on both handheld and BlackBerry, and lets you remotely gain PC access whereever you are. There’s not much to it, so we thought we’d let a video do the talking.
Be sure to check out this week’s podcast for more background on PCMobilizr and its launch.
Looks like there was an outage Thursday that lasted from as early as 8 AM up until around 4 PM. Problems centred around data services on both EDGE and 3G, including wireless internet cards for laptops. We’ll be talking with some folks from Zenprise on tomorrow’s podcast to get the down-low on where the problem originated, how wide it spread, and what enterprises did about it. Did the service lapse cause y’all any headaches?
Oh, man. It’s so great that those Christmas deals weren’t just a one-off exception to the rule of crappy Canadian data rates. We’re getting word that some new PC card data plans from Rogers are on the way, which could point to some better BlackBerry rates, too. What kind of plans you ask? How does $100 for 5 GB sound? Well, considering we’re getting 200 MB for that much right now, it sounds pretty sweet. That’s the top tier mind you – things start at $65 for 1 GB, $75 for 2 GB, and $85 for 3 GB, capping off at $100 for 5 GB. Best part, instead of overage charges per kilobyte, you’ll now get bumped up to the next tier automatically if you go over, which sounds totally fair. Right on, Rogers!
SlingPlayer has opened the gates for application to test out its new TV software for BlackBerry that made such a splash at CES this year. You can sign up for the beta when it’s ready over here, but you you’ll probably need a SlingBox hooked up to your TV already in order to participate, and an unlimited data plan will likely be necessary. Still, it’s a big step for streaming video on BlackBerry, and hopefully not the last.
Not too long ago we posted on a data traffic monitor called MiniMoni, which has now finished off its beta run and gone live. Luckily, the program is still free and still offering a lot of help to us poor saps with a limited data plan. Keep in mind that MiniMoni is only for GSM BlackBerrys right now, but I bet if you guys give some support, a CDMA version might follow in good time.
Flowfinity Actions has recently been upgraded to version 5.1 which includes GPS support. 5.1 offers all the same work order, project, asset, sales, and compliance management of the old version, only now the information sent from handheld to home base can include geographical information. Dubbed geo-compliance, this system allows administrators to make sure tasks aren’t only completed to the letter and on time, but that they’re done at the right place. For more information, head on over here.
QuickPlay, the guys who do cool streaming audio and video players for BlackBerry, have released a new free one called VideoStreams for the BlackBerry 8130. The new software, available from www.videoforblackberry.com on your mobile browser, depends on streaming video support, EVDO availability, being in North America and having a forgiving data plan. QuickPlay’s already been offering video streaming as a service to carriers, but it’s now that it’s been ironed out, a free version is here for all-comers. The current content is broken up into comedy, extreme sports, horoscopes and music videos, with more likely on the way. Give it a shot and let us know how it runs!
PhoneScoop 
So long as we’re seeing some 
Oh, man. It’s so great that those 
SlingPlayer has opened the gates for application to test out its new TV software for BlackBerry that made such a 
Not too long ago we 
Flowfinity Actions has 
QuickPlay, the guys who do cool 
